4 things no-one will tell you when you're stuck in a content rut!
Feel like you're just not getting the results you want from your business social media?
Results require you to provide the input first... and if what you're putting in is mediocre, you can't expect to be getting sky-high results out of it!
As with anything - what you put in, you get out.
Whether you're seeking higher engagement rates, increased followers or more enquiries - chances are you've overlooked one or more of these things, so if you're feeling stuck in a rut with your content, read on!
Michelen Star vs Value Ready Meal?
Quality ingredients, a great recipe, and a skilled chef VS everyday value ready meal?
Which would you pick?
You certainly wouldn't go to a restaurant and expect to be served a microwave meal.
The same applies to your audience when they view your social media. They want to get something out of it!
Now, you're probably thinking "Why should they get anything out of it, unless they're buying from me?"
And this is where you're falling at the first hurdle.
Take a step back and see the big picture for a moment...
Social Media is about community, and connection.
We use social media to find out what the people we care about are doing (and perhaps have a little nosey at some of the other people too), we go on to social media to be entertained, to be inspired and to find people we relate to!
1. People don't go onto social media to be sold to.
1. People don't go onto social media to be sold to.
Even with the rise of shopping platforms like TikTok, where people are willingly shopping, they don't want to be 'sold to'. They want to feel like they are making a choice to buy, because they're being empowered, or they simply NEED what they've just seen!
Ultimately, we don't go on social media to shop! Although there is a caveat here...
If we know what we need to buy, but not where to buy it from, then we will go to Google and search for it. (This is why your SEO is really important, but more on that another day!)
When we find a brand or a product/service that seems to fit the bill, we will either
A. Buy it straight away based on the information we have already seen or heard. This might include remembering a conversation we had, or reading the information on the webpage - description, reviews, results etc. If we are given enough information to buy from this page alone, we will.
or
B. We'll need little more information than we can get on their website. When we've found something that looks spot on but we're not 100% ready to commit yet - it might sound too good to be true, or maybe it's a little more money than we expected. Perhaps it's from a brand we've not heard of before, or maybe we're questioning the quality or the promised results (I always question something that says it will remove ANY stain, because challenge accepted!).
When we find ourselves in position B, and we're still interested in purchasing, we often find ourselves on social media to help fill in the blanks, and answer those questions.
Why?
Because we can learn a LOT of information about a brand and it's products/services through social media!
Want to see someone using it? TikTok
Want to see how well the company responds to questions? Twitter (X)
Want to see how long the brand's been around? Instagram
Want to learn more about it? Facebook
Want to watch a tutorial of how to use it? YouTube
And when those questions are answered, and we're satisfied - then we buy!
In reality, we can actually answer most of these with any platform. We can look at the responses to questions in the comment section on any platform to get an understanding of how a company responds to issues and questions! But we naturally look to different platforms for different things, depending on how we use those platforms personally, and this really highlights the importance of being present across multiple platforms.
So, now that you understand how people are using social media, start thinking about what you can post that helps them to answer these questions when they're looking at your business!
- Create tutorials
- Share User Generated Content (UGC)
- Step-by-step how-to guides
- Infographics
- Answer FAQs
- Talk about why you use a certain material/technique
- Case Studies
2. Find your tribe
The first people to like your business on social media are always your friends/family, because they want to support you and your business, but are they your target audience?
Creating a community that's made up of the people you're actually targeting will help you to grow your business online quicker than just trying to drive up those numbers with anyone who you can get to hit the follow button.
A community full of people who are passionate about the same things, who are motivated by the same things, who are experiencing similar challenges and who feel comfortable talking to the rest of the community about these things!
Encouraging these conversations amongst your audience helps to increase engagement that actually has meaning, and this is the most valuable metric for your social media.
When people feel a part of your community, they'll comment on your posts, they'll tag their friends, they'll share your posts, they'll recommend your business in other networks. They will become your brand champions, all just because they love how you've made them feel a part of something.
Start creating content that helps you to build and nurture your community!
- Relatable quotes
- Raise awareness of the 'problem'
- Relevant updates in your industry/niche
- Collaborate with someone who complements your offer
- Share your behind-the-scenes
- Use polls and quizzes to allow your audience to share their opinions/views
3. Live a little, and Laugh a little more!
People want to be entertained! Using social media is a form of entertainment, and when people are enjoying spending time on a page, they'll spend more time there!
Think about the Caterpillar Cake drama - the Aldi social media team turned something that could have been really boring and uninteresting to their audience, into something that was fun, by creating content that people wanted to share because it made them laugh!
When it's funny, we want to share it with our friends and family, because we know it will make them laugh too!
Everyone needs a little more laughter in their life, right?!
When we're entertained, we are peeling back those layers of uncertainty and distrust, people who make us laugh are perceived as more likely to be trustworthy, and we're more likely to want to engage with their content futher!
Create content that is fun for your audience to watch and that they share with their friends!
- Laugh-out-loud moments with you/your brand/your product at the centre - but don't mock others!
- Memes
- Behind-the-scenes
- Jokes
- Puzzles
- Quizzes
- Topical content - keep up with the lastest in news and entertainment, especially things relating to your industry!
Make sure you don't make this content offensive, think about the image you're portraying of your business!
4. The proof is in the pudding
Putting the time into planning your marketing will give you results, and adding in the skills and experience of a digital marketer will help you to further increase those results!
Just this weekend, one of our clients held a Facebook Live Sale with a difference, and sold 4-figures worth of stock in just 1.5 hours!
But it wasn't the fact of holding a sale, because they've held plenty before, but the result came in the way we marketed it...
- We created curiosity to get their audience interested
- We highlighted limited availability to encourage their audience to want to attend live
- We reminded their audience at least 6 times in the space of 2 weeks (plus some additional reminders on Instagram/Facebook Stories)
- We included teasers and previews to further peak the interest of their audience
- And we made sure their audience knew just how worth their while the sale would be!
They could have just said "We're holding a sale, join us" and they might have sold a few things, but instead, we planned and marketed this sale as an exciting event that meant they sold over 75% of their excess stock allowing them to make room for new Spring stock whilst also making themselves a tidy figure on a Sunday afternoon!
Now go and create your content!
Stepping back and thinking about where each individual post fits in to the bigger picture is key, and having a proper digital marketing strategy is key to ensuring your content plays its part!
Don't forget to check out the Content to Customers course to learn everything you need to know about using social media and creating content that converts your followers into paying customers!
If you'd like to discuss us creating your social media posts for you, get in touch today!
